The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle suspensions and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a tractor/trailer suspension with a hub temperature indicating device.
It is known to equip a hub on a vehicle suspension with a temperature indicating mechanism. An example of such a mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,892. This patent discloses an element which pops out of a hub cap plug when a fusible material melts. The element includes a colored spring-loaded stem.
Unfortunately, these prior temperature indicating mechanisms rely on moving mechanical components which are unreliable and relatively expensive to manufacture and assemble. It would be beneficial to be able to indicate clearly to a vehicle operator that an undesirable temperature change has occurred in a suspension hub, without this indication being provided by moving parts which are prone to failure and are uneconomical.
Therefore, it may be seen that improvements are needed in the art of indicating temperature changes in hubs of vehicle suspensions.